The Sky Went Black

Extreme Storm 1
Originally uploaded by *Bundy*

Earlier this week I had the fortune of having another birthday. Number 45 to be exact. It happened during the week so there wasn't any celebration not that I really need any pomp and circumstance.

But as we usually do in the summer, several of my aunts and I gathered at my parents trailer located at Presqu'ile Provincial Park along the shores of Lake Ontario.

So as it turns out, there was a bit of a celebration planned in my honour. Nothing too over the top. Just a few gifts and some cake. It was actually quite nice and certainly appreciated.

Up until the completion of supper it had been a very windy and warm day. We spent the entire afternoon sitting in lawn chairs chatting and enjoying the company and the great view of the water. Sailboats and cabin cruisers passed by in the distance. It was ideal after having dealt with stifling heat and humidity for the entire week.

We knew there had been storms elsewhere in the province and the threat of severe weather had been predicted to make its way into our area early in the evening but we were of course hoping it would miss us. It didn't.

No sooner had we finished our supper, the sky turned black. The clouds were rolling in from the Northwest and It looked rather menacing. Although my parents have a trailer, we were all in the dining tent where there was more room.

We stepped outside to watch as the clouds moved over us an eventually over the lake. The wind changed direction and the gusts started to toss stuff around and whip up the dirt on the roads. This was about to get ugly.

Back into the tent we went to gather up the dishes to take into the trailer to be washed but before we could make the move the storm hit.

High winds, heavy rain and almost non-stop lightning hammered us for well over an hour. As the tent started to fill up with water I decided during one lull in the rain to get everyone out and into the trailer where it would be a bit safer.

The move went well and we could watch the lightning coming down all around us. At one point I had to make a dash out to the tent. The rain was coming down so hard the room couldn't handle it and it was fill up up instead of running off. The weight of the rain could destroy the tent so I got soaked once again after running out to dump the water as the lightning continued to crackle in the air around me. I usually enjoy lightning but this was too close for comfort.

Eventually the rain let up enough that my aunts could leave. There was no way we were going to have campfire tonight so we cancelled it until Sunday.

It was a crazy weather event but luckily nobody was hurt and I don't think anyone in the park suffered any damage from falling limbs, trees or lightning. It was a memorable birthday to say the least.

Above you can see one photo I took of the leading edge of the storm as it moved overhead and out to the lake.

Losing Weight is Hard Work

The changes are happening slowly.

Its been over a month since I last posted anything on my blog so I figured it's probably time to give an update on how my battle against all things fatty and tasty are going.

I'm posting some photos here that are slightly embarrassing but I think they'll illustrate where I've come from and how I'm progressing. I've made a point of documenting my progress to have a visual reference of the transformation. I've never been comfortable in my own massive skin but I want to be as open and honest about this journey as possible and I'm glad so many people are taking the trip with me and supporting me.

June 2007 - Likely heavier than 418 lbs.

My progress is continuing nicely
although some weeks I do seem to run into a brick wall and my dropping weight stalls. I guess this is normal as my body continues to adjust to the changes taking place but I will admit it's frustrating stepping on the scale and not seeing the results I think should be looking up at me.

But I continue to make an effort to improve my life and my health by eating less and exercising more. I try to get in at least four types of cardio exercise each week. This could be anything from a three hour round of golf to a 30 minute walk around the neighbourhood. I feel if I can continue to stay vigilant of my food intake and keep burning calories on a regular basis, positive results will happen.

A good college and radio friend of mine wanted to know what changes I've made to my diet and if I've embraced new and healthier foods that I wouldn't have normally eaten in the past. To answer your question Scott (Freddy), I'm still pretty much eating the same foods I used to eat when I weighed 418 pounds. The difference of course is that I'm not eating nearly as much of it even though some days I really want to.

On July 3, 2013 I finally dropped below 300 lbs.

When I sat down with my Dietician we discussed the foods I like to eat and what I don't like to eat. It became clear to her that I was a very picky eater who frowns on most "healthy" foods. I will eat a salad if I go out for supper but I'm not a big veggie connoisseur. That isn't to say I'm not going to try and make some changes. In fact, I have tried some different foods but the bottom line is, if I don't like it I'm not going to force myself to eat it. She eventually talked me into eating smaller portions of the foods I like which most days I have no trouble doing. 

Fruits are not something I enjoy at all. I wish I did like them because that would make finding healthy snacks much easier. Instead, I usually end up not having snacks or only on rare occasions and certainly not something that would be considered healthy. Lets just say it's a work in progress and I hope to make more changes at some point.

Wearing a ball jacket that hadn't fit for 20 years.

I mentioned in the past that I switched from regular pop to diet pop to eliminate the calories and sugar but now I'm reading that diet pop can be just as bad for you. I'm going to stick with it for now until I can find something that will take its place. I like drinking water but I can't just drink water. Maybe I should just drink water and Molson 67 beer from now on. It's only 67 calories ya know.

One thing that I'm quite proud of is how I've kept my promise to myself to exercise. When I first started this journey to a new me I thought I'd probably exercise twice a week for maybe 10 minutes but I've been doing much more than that. One thing that's helped me to be more active like I was 20 years ago was dropping the weight. That's right, I had to lose weight in order to be more active and lose even more. The more weight I lose, the more energy I seem to have and the more willing I am to get out and wear out my running shoes. I enjoy my walks and if sweating is a sign of progress than I've been making plenty of progress this summer. And between you and me, I think losing weight makes you feel more horny. Maybe it's more testosterone or something. I'll have to do more research on that. I just need to find a research partner. 

So where do I stand on my road to a new and improved me you might be wondering. As I mentioned previously, my goal was to get below 300 pounds by my birthday on July 17th. I'm happy to report that I was able to reach that goal two weeks ahead of schedule.

It may look ugly but my stomach is shrinking.

My starting weight was 418 pounds. My current weight as of today is 295 pounds. That gives me a total weight loss of 123 pounds so far after working at it in earnest for 10 months.

I fully expect the amount of weight and the ease in which I lose it to slow down and I'm okay with that. The way I feel now compared to a year ago is like night and day. If I didn't lose another pound I wouldn't be happy but with the daily aches and pains I grew accustomed to and endured for all those years now gone I feel so much happier about myself.

But my hope is to continue to shed as much weight as I can and hopefully find myself in a gym this winter lifting weights and toning the now sagging skin that is developing from losing the fat. At my age and after decades of abuse my body just won't bounce back like other people I see. At least not quickly.

I'll never have six-pack abs or tightly toned legs, butt or arms, however I'd like to get to the point where I don't step out of the shower and scare myself. It would be nice to look in the mirror one day and say, "damn, where have you been all my life?"